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The Butterfly Device is about a single butterfly, sent back to the age of the Crusades in an attempt to save the world of 2012. Of course...things go terribly wrong.

It's character-driven, flashing back and forth between the "time-travelled past", showing how various characters encounter the butterfly and become motivated to change the world, and "present day, our time line (2012)", showing the scientific and political fallout of these timetravel experiences.

It has drama, comedy, love, betrayal, war, death, and more cliffhangers than you can shake a metallic butterfly at!

The Butterfly Device

About to be abandoned at a Big Wide World Of Internet near you!

Best Character Writer of the Week - 07 AUG 08 - "The Butterfly Device"
Best Character Writer of the Week - 02 SEP 09 - "The Butterfly Device"

ONGOING:

The Butterfly Device: A Grand Campaign (Tale of a single butterfly sent back to the crusades in an attempt to save the world from prophecied murderesses, and the men who love them. Also, I have a habit of turning my readers into characters in the story. So check it out!)

I was out with my friend, shopping for clothes and she pointed out a pair of burgundy pants and exclaimed "Look! Burgundy coloured pants!"

I stared at her for a bit (more so the pants) then said:

"... Burgundy is not just a colour."

And thus Blood and Gold was born!

---------------------------------

For my first AAR I am going for a wildly ambitious project to take Burgundy through a Mega-Campaign History-Book styled AAR. I plan on writing this as an actual history text filled with tons of 'facts' with the more-than-occasional bits of odd events and dry, dry, dry humour. I know that most may scoff and say "Pah! A newbie taking on a Mega-Campaign AAR for his first attempt?! Preposterous!" /monocle But know this! I am committed and even more so I have a lot of free time on my hands for some strange reason! So get excited and read how a colour became a major power in Europe! And (quite possibly) the world!

So for now I present you with an excerpt from my entry on the (abysmal) state of Germany:

Of the vassals that the Duke of Carinthia would aid, Pietro of Savoie (Count of Savoie and Piemonte, two very rich provinces) would become one of the more prolific rebels. By 1076 the count would declare independence and ally himself with the Doge of Venice, causing King Heinrich to ‘err’ and ultimately leave the count to his own devices (though, the Duke was disappointed as he believed that Pietro would ally himself with him, possibly even pledge himself as a vassal to him). Within the next ten years Pietro would absorb various rebel Italian lords and marry his family into the more powerful members of Europe (the Capet’s, de Normandie’s, and even Heinrich’s own von Franken’s) further consolidating his power. When in 1077 the count named himself Duke of Savoie, King Heinrich took further steps to protect his kingdom from rebelling; he instituted an election system as a means of determining the next ‘Holy Roman Emperor’ (a title the Pope, Gregory VII, had bestowed upon him two years prior).

The move was controversial at the time. It outraged his sons, who believed that it should be them to inherit and that their father was destroying God’s divine plans. His vassals were caught off guard, most of them fumbling in their plans and, if only for a few years, seeing their liege as a good man. In truth, while Heinrich’s descendants would not immediately benefit from this, had the system stayed in place Heinrich’s dynasty would be in power within a generation. The clever king had bestowed many titles on his daughters, making them countesses and duchesses of vast tracks of land. Yet, they would have no sons of their own, meaning that all the land would fall into the hands of Heinrich’s eldest son, and thus making him one of the more prominent nobles in the Empire. But, the immediate beneficiary would be the Duke of Lower Lorraine who, due to the size of his duchy and the prestige his dynasty held, was first in line to become the next emperor.

King Heinrich, in a stroke of genius, secured himself an ally out of a potential enemy (and a powerful ally at that) whilst preserving his dynasty. The Duke of Lower Lorraine, who had begun to plot against the king (most due to the urgings of his wife, who pointed out that should Heinrich fall then her husband would have enough land and prestige to restore the long dead Kingdom of Lotharingia), immediately threw his plots out and re-pledged himself to Heinrich, swearing that he would be the king’s right hand. A brief period of peace and stability followed, to King Heinrich all seemed right and well within his Kingdom and there was never a time that he was happier.

The Papal State : A Mission AARis my first After-Action Report. Basically with the new Mission System in In Nomine, I got the idea to do an AAR based around the new feature. The ReadAARs voted for the Papal State, and I began my "mission". At First, the missions ranged from "Ending the Western Schism" to "Convert Italy Back to the Faith". After the exciting missions were gone, I called to my ReadAARs to send me their custom missions. These range from "Saving Moldavia" by spl, to forming "The Holy Triumvirate" of cities by FYROM. Come read along, I might have an opening for another custom mission in the future!Also, come join the HAT-MANIA

This AAR was started after a fellow forumite asked for someone to make an AAR about the most powerful German entity during the Europa Universalis III timeframe. My goal was simple; Unite the entire German Culture group. From the Low Countries in the West, to the Pagan Prussian lands in the East, and From the North sea, to the Adriatic. But the brave and humble kings of Bavaria had an enemy. An enemy they did not count on. The French Advisor *DUN DUN DUN!*Will they defeat the advisor, or fall before his awe-some french mustache?

EU3 AAR's:Avignon:Rise of the Antipope-A failed Gameplay AAR which I turned into a narrative AAR.Come see the anti-pope spread his influence across Europe.
Restarted with a look at following the New Catholic Order.

The story of an immortal soldier and his legacy through time-A narrative AAR about an Immortal soldier called Agent EUROO7 and Agent Bingo Brett who are partners in Captain Enewald's Capibara Company and engage in missions across the world and take part in the yearly Merc company world cup
and strive to beat their rivals, the Comagoosie Clan.Ended due to a VERY long period of abscense from the forums.

Hello, my name is Masked Pickle, I'm French, and preparing by now studies of political sciences I hope I will succeed. I'm also very interested into Paradox Games, using AARs to improve a bit my English and my writing style, as I want to be a writer and historian...Thanks a lot!

Hearts of Iron II:

Current AARs:

OnwAARds Hayastan! (March, 26 2008 - ...)
With Anatolian Wars mod - In a world that saw the defeat of Turkey during the Greek-Turkish War, the struggles of the small and fragile Republic of Armenia, struggling to recover her past glory and to save her independance.

Finished AAR:

The fleur-de-lys will flourish again! (June, 3 2007 - March, 8 2008)
With mod 33 - From 1936 to 1951, the long wars made by fascist France to conquer the world, under the rule of king Henri VI d'Orléans and the President of Council Charles Maurras. Ending with a French-led monarchist rule on Europe, Asia, Africa and America, Uzickibombarder tried to put this into a mod, which has been abandoned by now.

Abandoned AARs:

Thunder over the Mekong (May, 17 2007 - May, 25 2007)
With mod 33 - My very first AAR, a try to conquer southwestern Asia with a kingdom of Indochina released by France. It died after some progress in southern China due to a corrupted file.

The Fourth Pretender (July,1 2007 - February, 4 2008)
With All the Russias mod - Inspired by RossN's excellent AAR with All the Russias mod, I tried to do my own by taking as main characted Dmitri Pavlovich Romanov, member of the decimated Romanov family installed as Tsar by the fascist Russian government. I gave up, feeling too busy to complete it and finding it too poorly written.

This is the cover art for the original, first, number one, beginning book in the
Choose Your Own Adventure Series (which is probably owned by Bantam, who is going to sue me)
I've have only made SIX (6) edits to the artwork... can you catch them all?

Das Gefallene Reich
A story of the Austrian Empire and her soldiers and peoples during the First Great War (thanks to the 1914 mod) and beyound (the original '36 mod with modifications due to my 1914 game).

Generaloberst Heinz Wilhelm Guderian which is a re-imagining of a previous AAR that was abandoned because of lost discs, and tells the story of how Guderian orchestrated his panzers to near world domination, before falling from grace.

Here is an excerpt:

Escher spread the thick dossier open on the table and flipped through the initial few pages. Where to begin, he thought – at the beginning of it all or start right into the tribunal’s findings against him? While the most grievous charges of direct knowledge and participation of genocide had been waived, the prisoner was still convicted of waging an aggressive war and being culpable in crimes committed against humanity. For the SS types that he had talked with in the past, they preferred to start in the middle and considered everything prior to joining the party as irrelevant. To them, the time before they were efficient little genocidal bastards was a moot point, since they didn’t find themselves until they were given the resources and power to destroy and kill.

But this one – Heinz Wilhelm Guderian: Inspector-General of the Armored Troops, Chief of Staff of the Army High Command, Reichsmarschall of the Armed Forces, though he considered the latter to be honorary and preferred his Generaloberst title - wasn’t like that, Escher noted. There was no indication that he ever joined the party wholeheartedly and with complete conviction, rather he joined in order to avoid getting a black mark against his name. That was the kiss of death, either in terms of a career or literally, as Heydrich was not shy in purging those who failed to show due deference to the party.

Escher’s eyes glanced up from the picture of a young ensign-cadet in the Hanoverian Jäger Bataillon No. 10 and noticed that he was being scrutinized. Not like the others who avoided eye contact, this one was regarding him like a cat regards a mouse.

“Your father was the battalion commander when you first applied as a cadet, correct?” Escher asked, aware of the information but wanting to work his way up the ladder.

“Correct,” Guderian blandly replied. “It was natural in those days to join in such a way. My father’s wealth and position assured me a place, but I never treated my peers with disrespect and my father made sure that no preferential treatment was given to me. That would have been impolite.”

Escher nodded and returned to the reading. At the age of 20, Guderian went to the military academy at Metz and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. In 1911, he joined the 3rd Telegraphen-Bataillon, Prussian Army Signal Corps, and two years later he married Margarete Goerne, eventually having two sons who served with him up until Monrovia.

“Before we begin, Chronicler, let me make it very clear that I will brook no questions regarding racial doctrines or their applications or what happened in terms of those doctrines. Is that understood?”

“Of course," Escher formally replied, "but while you were cleared of directly aiding and abetting genocide, you were still culpable for allowing it to happen.”

The second AAR is Tukhachevsky’s Empire of the Eagle, whose premise is to create a Romania that is aggressive, capable and a world shaker, resulting in a completely ahistorical game, but one that is hopefully a good read.

Here is an excerpt:

How has it come to this.

Many nights I have pondered at what point Mistress Fortuna abandoned me. At what point she decided that I, her most ardent follower, was to be placed upon the rocks of fate and left to bleach in the sun.

Hell, indeed, hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially one as powerful as Fortuna.

When I was younger, I did not believe in the fates at all. Such fanciful or theoretical notions were always best left to lovers of opera or the theater. To me, what was real was what I could hold in my hand. The soil from my family’s estate, the touch of a loved one or even the cold but welcoming caresses of a weapon – this was what was real to me. Man made his own fortune – that was the credo to which I subscribed to. There was no such thing as luck, nor did I believe in coincidence. The notion that everything happened for a reason, that there was some higher power involved shaping one's destiny, steadfastly applying their deity-like powers to the rudder of one’s life, guiding their ship past the shoals and into the open water if one was good, or onto the rocks to crash and burn if not - those notions were ludicrous.

My career was what I made for myself. Others could delude themselves that they were self-made men, but the reality was that most owed their existence to some patron or another. When they spoke, the words that came out of their mouths were hollow, without conviction, as they were merely puppets who regurgitated what was commanded of them by their benefactors. This is why I was never afraid of Stalin and could look him in the eye and challenge him – we recognized a familiar in each other's eyes. A man who was his own master and not afraid to let others become aware of the steel within.

Even when I was dismissed from my post by Stalin - of all people - and my ideas ridiculed, I knew that eventually I would be proven correct. The opposition came from weak men who were too accustomed to the familiar of the past, and thus afraid to embrace the bosom of the future. Eventually the truths that I advocated would be like water wearing down the stone that was their timidity.

The fates? Mistress Fortuna? Nonsense – all of it.

And then I met Ileana.

If you are interested in either, feel free to drop on by and have a gander...

And so, here is my Inkwell entry.
Im not sure I belong in here. My updates are on a schedule bordering on eccentric. There may be 4 in a day, or none for a month. No promises are made, that way none can be broken.

About me. I am a New Zealander, and am enrolled in Otago Univeristy. I'm not studying war studies, as much as I would like to. I am training to be a teacher. So the spreading of history will be my job. I have gone from HOI1 to HOI2, to DD, then DDA, and finally, I dabbled in CK and for a whole hour, EUII

And so, to my aars.
I've tried to make them entertaining. But sometimes, I'm just not on. Thus, I have one main AAR at the moment.

It is a tale of madness. First leading from the abandoned first Fern AAR, to the tale of victory it is now. I have no idea how I managed to do it, personally, but its all there. And the flag (^) is about as great as my animations can get.

This one is a tale of conquest, pure and simple. There will be no puppeting, unless by events. Only one thing matters here: The complete and utter regaining of Britain's empire, and painting the world a pretty pink colour.

That's it. The Britain AAR hasn't been update in some time, but will be resumed at a later date. Pay em a visit, or a comment if you feel indulgent.

The Shattered Eagle

The Shattered Eagle: A German Gotterdammerung Story

This AAR is told from the German prespective during the apparent final hours of the Third Reich in 1944. This is more of a 'narrative' AAR following the soldiers, civilians and generals fighting to save the Third Reich from utter destruction at the hands of the Allies and the USSR.

Take the journey with the men, women and children living and dying in their hopes to save the Fatherland from a disasterous downfall.

The Sicilian

This is an Italian Mafia AAR, loosely based on the masterpiece of Francis Ford Coppola's and Mario Puzo's the Godfather. The story follows the Aachelli Family from Marsala, Sicily. Miguel witnesses the death of both his mother and father and is left for dead by the local Don. As time goes by the young boy becomes one of the most feared mobsters not only in Sicily and Italy but in the United States as well. Can the Italian Costra Nostra survive in Mussolini's Italy? And what about the impending World War just on the horizen? And can the Kingdom of Italy bring back the old Roman Empire? All is told out in this story: The Sicilian.

"...and if I can remember you should always keep business infront of friendship." -Don Marino, opening Introduction.

AAR's are located in my signature. All are being updated, but the Shattered Eagle will be updated less frequently now.

I've had a few very dedicated readAARs who I'm very thankful for having stuck with this AAR for so long. Really makes it worth the work and adds an extra level to the fun, so this is a big thank you to the lovely readAARs!

[About the AAR] This is a story of a France that could have been. What if the most charismatic of all the French monarchs and the founder of the Bourbon royal dynasty had succeeded in bringing the Reformation to France? Read on about how Henri IV battles the Habsburg super powers of Spain and Austria for control over his own kingdom and the very future of Europe.

From Chapter LI - GERMANIA

***

Condé heard the rumbling of the incoming cavalry before he could even see their standards and weapons in the fading sun.

“Pikes form up for advance” the prince of the blood barked to the nearest officer.

“Muskets prepare to release fire!”

The sound of thousands of muskets being thrown on the earthly ramparts resounded in the midst of the hammering of the drums and roaring of cannon and horse hooves. The Huguenot infantry was ready to receive the Catholic cavalry. Out of the corner of his eye, Condé could see Crussol’s battalions stealing themselves in the same way.

The enemy horse came ever nearer and nearer, releasing their battle roar “Ave Maria!” in utter defiance of the French positions. Around them the cannons of Vauban’s fortifications smashed the ground into cascades of earth and shrapnel. As they were about to collide with the French line, Condé finally bellowed out the order to open fire.

In one massive explosion the three ranks of the French musketeers unleashed a flame of smoke and lead that hit the Austrian reiters as a brick wall. Hundreds upon hundreds of horses and men collapsed under the barrage from the deadly crossfire created by Condé and Crussol’s infantry. The Catholics wavered, disorganized and confused.

“Take it men! Take it god damn it! Onwards, for the true church of Rome you rascals!” Melfi roared furiously to his men who bulged backwards in the face of the French fire. As the French began to reload, the Habsburg cavaliers fired their pistols, but it seemed like a futile and powerless dash compared to the punishment which the Huguenot ranks dished out to Raimondo’s columns.

“Here it comes again! Hold your ranks lads!”

Another volley ripped through the cavalry now hopelessly stranded before the French lines. Panic-stricken, the count of Melfi roared for his infantry to hurry up as he withdrew backwards with what remained of his cavalry.

The Austrian tercios gave room for their musketeers to fire against the enemy trenches only to have a great deal of them fall to the Huguenot response. The drums were pounding feverishly, the screams of dying men and horses unbearable, but finally the pikes could close in on the ramparts. Condé’s Walloon and Swiss guards met them head on in a furious melee where the pikes of the tercios became almost useless. But Crussol’s line was too thin and his men began to waver in the face of the dreaded tercios.

This was my first AAR. It is written in a novelesque form which was very fun to write in the beginning, but soon became very boring. It was abandoned after the first 3-4 updates. The save is gone and with it the idea.

[About the AAR] The story takes place in 1660 where Denmark had just lost and won (in that order) two wars with Sweden. As a result a third of the country was lost to the Swedish Empire. The plot was centred on a young Danish sailor returning from Dutch service who joined the Dano-Norwegian navy in swashbuckling adventures on the dark North-Sea.

Extract:“Swedish ships at starboard side!” The lookout cried now clearly.
Juel put his telescope to his right eye and examined the hastily nearing vessels.

“Two wargallons. Plenty of guns and plenty of Swedes! Load the guns!”
Magnus looked puzzled at the admiral.
“But we have no idea what their intentions are! You are almost giving them an excuse….”
An earth shattering boom silenced him for a second.
“.. to fire upon us?”

Doctor Charles Rivers discovers that meddling with experimental Russian equipment has deadly consequences. But it’s only after his untimely demise that our real story begins…
An EU2 grand campaign as England.

The first story set in HistoryPark, the world’s only history-based theme park. Relive the battle of Gettysburg, surf the world’s greatest waves, stay overnight in a cabin on RMS Titanic. It’s all here, and more… if only they can find a way to pay the bills!
An EU2 game of Napoleon’s Ambition as France, with special guest appearances by the robotic Napoleon.

Selected-Essays-Building-a-Better-Bremen
An experiment in telling an AAR as a series of connected essays. See tiny Bremen become a globe-straddling major power while learning about the Heart, Hand and Eye, the Colonial Corporation, Mozart, and – of course – beer. The architect of this rise to power is Johannes Gropius, the Man Without a Face, whose long-hidden masterpiece ‘Gedanken Auf Krieg’ holds many secrets.

More than three years in the making, the epic story of HistoryPark, China’s grab for Taiwan, artificial intelligence, a dancing Frankenstein, bagpipes, the most fabulous riverboat ever, virtual reality, several quests, generations of Draculas and – of course – lots and lots of dragons.

A Railroad Tycoon 3 AAR of the American Civil War (my scenario) that takes up the question, ‘Could the South have won? And what would have happened if it had?' This is the story of a tycoon named John Ephraim Haynes, his rise to vast wealth and power, and his fall.

This is a Galactic Civilizations II AAR of Earth’s bid to become more than a galactic backwater, from the first discovery of the twistor drive to the final, galaxy-shattering wars of conquest. I was fortunate enough to have 8 superb guest authors, including:

coz1, and Don Vittorio
stnylan, and Erich Tauffel
amric, with General Parsons and Colonel Branch
J. Passepartout, and Goldstein
Prufrock 451, with N1 and the Imperial First Proxy
Stuyvesant, with Commander Yves Bourdelain, and Lesser Sky Claw Tarx
Tomn_Peng, and AK-46
Nil-the-Frogg, and Alice

An on-going Victoria Revolutions campaign game as the United States. Two competing teams of alternate-universe-hopping agents vie to bend the United States into very different visions of the future. The story features a cast of thousands including many of the famous and infamous. Will ‘The Killing Frost’ best Donneval ‘The Axe’ Makhearne? Only time – and our time-travelers - will tell.

In my time on the Forum I have won some awards, founded the Guess the Author initiative, helped write for the AARland Gazette and attended the writer's mini-cons in Washington DC and Shiloh Battlefield. I am a retired band director, have degrees in music education and computer programming, and currently work in IT for a cinema company.

The author and his former owner, MacHeath, AKA the Macropus, now sadly deceased. The cat, not the author - at least not yet.

Last edited by Director; 10-03-2014 at 21:50.

"That which does not kill me, has made a grave tactical error." - Jerry Pournelle

The Revenge of the Bear is a story of friendship, love and hate, of betrayal and treason and cloaks and daggers. And... well, in fact, it's not.

The Revenge of the Bear follows the story of the Russian Empire in the post-Crimean War era, as she struggles to recover from defeat and humiliation. Ever wondered what could have been had Alexander II's reforms been more far reaching? The Revenge of the Bear offers one option of events and follows a Russia growing ever more powerful in an alternative world shaped by intrigue and conflict.

The AAR is done mostly in history-book style and tries to convey the context and atmosphere of events, as well as give as detailed descriptions of various happenings as possible. But it also features a healthy dose of gameplay elements and, in fact, a whole three-posts long gameplay industrial overview! It also has pictures. Everybody loves pictures.

The author also tries to include as much cynical and ironic humour as possible, because we all love to laugh and smile.

To conclude, what this AAR has:

1. Pictures.
2. Three posts long industrial state by state overview.
3. Custom-made schematic maps, clear and straight to the point.
4. Sikhs in Russian uniforms.
5. Lots of cynical and politically uncorrect humour.

I am a longtime lurker in the forums that recently decided to go all out with building a unique CK/DV aar.

Using Jordarkelf's DVIP mod, I set out to unify the south of France as the Duchy of Toulouse and create the ahistorical Kingdom of Aquitania. For forty game years I toiled, slowly working my way through marriage and war to my goal. Then, in 1107, everything fell into place and I was ready to write.

After a quick recap of the events leading to my situation, I started what I suppose could be considered a gameplay type aar following Zavie de Toulouse first King of Aquitania. I have now moved on to my second king, Guitard de Toulouse.

To summarize, my aar has a fair amount of gameplay pictures tied together with text describing the situation normally from the King's perspective, but I will cut away to a Duke leading an important force in battle once in a while. I recently implemented a poll system to gauge audience interest and allow the followers of my writing to have an effect on the story as it happens.

Please, if you are interested in a fun, sometimes funny, aar for CK, you can't go wrong with mine! See the link below or in my signature to get started.

Made using the Interregnum mod for EU 2, with extensive new events, and the like being created as the mod progresses to fill in the gaps. This AAR seeks to show a what could have happened if the Tlemcen had managed to reclaim their lost lands, and strive to create a new empire in a world where Islam has had many great victories.